An 88-year-old woman married her high school crush — and finally had the wedding of her dreams
Elaine Hall and Roland Passaro, both 88, got married in March after dating for 20 years.
They were high school crushes but lost touch over the years, each getting married and having kids.
They reconnected at their 50th high school reunion in 2003 and moved in together shortly after.
74 years after they first met, Elaine Hall and Roland Passaro officially tied the knot this year, according to The Washington Post.
The couple attended the same middle and high school in the 1950s when they were both living four blocks apart in Allentown, Pennsylvania.
"When I saw her in 9th grade, I thought she was very beautiful and exciting," Passaro told TODAY.com. "I thought she was, I guess in today's parlance, quite hot."
In high school, Passaro was a star athlete on the baseball team and Hall was a cheerleader. They danced together at the YMCA or at house parties.
They never dated —Passaro felt he was too young to settle down and wanted to "play the field," he told The Washington Post.
But they never forgot each other. "I always had a special place in my heart for Roland all through those years," Hall told TODAY.com.
They reconnected at their 50th high school anniversary in 2003. This March, after 20 years together, they got married, both aged 88.
They were both previously married
Hall and Passaro's roads sharply diverged after high school.
Hall stayed in Allentown. She married at 18, had three children, and worked at the local newspaper.
Passaro flew the nest — he went to college, played professional baseball, and worked for a Miami airline. He also married and raised three children, according to The Washington Post.
When their high school's 50-year reunion rolled around, Hall, who was divorced her first husband and living in Atlantic City, was excited to reconnect with old friends.
Passaro wasn't going to make the trip from Florida. His wife and 37-year-old son, John, had recently died, both within 10 months of each other, according to TODAY.com. His family talked him into going.
An instant attraction
For Passaro and Hall, their reunion was electric. "There was an attraction between us that night," Hall told The Washington Post. "When I went over to say goodbye, he leaned over and gave me a kiss."
Shortly after, Passaro mailed Hall a handwritten letter. After reading it, she called him and they spoke on the phone for six hours — and again, and again for the next three months.
Eventually, Hall visited Passaro in Miami. On her second visit during Christmas that year, they decided she'd move in.
Their lives blended together beautifully. Passaro described them both as "family-oriented" and "devoted" to their kids, grandkids, and great-grandkids in The Post. They also love traveling, going out to dinner and art shows, and golfing. "They are so adorable at the golf course," James, one of Passaro's sons, told The Washington Post. "He hits the ball, and she tells him which way it went because he can't see very well."
Hall finally got a real wedding
The pair lived together for 20 years when, last October, Hall "wondered out loud" why they hadn't gotten married, according to The Post. With tears in their eyes, they agreed to do it.
Hall and her daughters went to six boutiques on the hunt for a gown.
"I kept saying at 88, maybe I shouldn't wear a veil," Hall told TODAY.com. "My daughters said, 'Mom, quit trying not to look like a bride. You're a bride. We're going to do the whole thing.' When I got up there to him, he said to me, 'You look so beautiful.'"
At the Grand Haven Amenities in Palm Coast, Florida, their sons and daughters walked them down the aisle. Two great-granddaughters were flower girls, according to The Post.
For their first dance, the couple jitterbugged to "Kansas City," a hit song from the 1950s that they danced to as teenagers.
"I feel the same way as I did at 15," Hall told TODAY.com. "I still get the butterflies. I just love him so much."
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